Social Security disability/retirement question...

[pipi_k]

Let's say someone became disabled before the age of 50 and worked long enough to be able to qualify for SSDI.

So the person would like to turn that over into regular (early) retirement at the age of 62.

The chart listing that person's year of birth says that early retirement would reduce the person's monthly benefits by 25% if that person were still working.

My question is...if someone is getting SSDI but elects to turn disability over to early retirement at 62, does the disability benefit amount get reduced by 25%, stay the same, or would early retirement mean that whatever regular benefits he would have gotten based on work history would be reduced by 25%?

Has anyone here had any experience with that sort of thing?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Why would you do that? Just stay on ssdi till 65.

[pipi_k]

2. Staying on till 65

would mean another five years of having to justify to family/friends who know I'm on disability that I'm not just scamming the system (since I'm only 60 right now).

IOW, some of my family think just because they can't see my disability, I'm not really disabled. Like I'm only acting disabled in order to get it, never mind that my actual disability goes back decades.

So my thing is, if I'm getting plain old retirement benefits but I'm STILL suffering from the same disability, it means I wasn't faking it all these years.

Yeah, I know...I shouldn't care what other people think, but it hurts, you know?

Last summer, my relationship with my favorite sister was altered quite a bit when she said something unkind about me to Mr Pipi.

[Betsy Ross]

3. Tell them what they want to hear.

Investigate so you know what you would be getting, but don't make the change if you don't have to before 65.

[pipi_k]

4. I went to investigate

the other day, had my information entered and just about to submit, when I see a little paragraph at the bottom saying that anyone already receiving SS benefits of any kind was not allowed to find out what I wanted to know.

At least, that's the way I understood it.

Don't understand why it would not be permitted to find that info out, but I got a little spooked and just backed out without submitting my query.

So I figured I would ask here if anyone else has had experience with disability and rolling it over into regular retirement before age 65...

[elleng]

5. Doesn't sound reasonable to me,

that 'anyone already receiving SS benefits of any kind was not allowed to find out what I wanted to know.'

I suggest you find an expert. There are DUers who have vast experience with such things. Make further inquiries at DU, or elsewhere.

Best.

[pipi_k]

7. I know...

Wondering if I had just misunderstood, I read it three or four times.

I may try to do it again soon and get a screen shot of what that paragraph at the end said so others here can see it and maybe give a different perspective on what it said...

[elleng]

9. Good idea to reread and have other eyes do so.

[No Vested Interest]

6. Make an appt. at your nearest Social Security office

and ask a representative.
They are very good.
Or perhaps there is a knowledgeable person at your local senior center.
Tell any family member that questions your disability that those remarks are hurtful and you would prefer that such remarks not be repeated.
Good luck.

[pipi_k]

8. In the end

I may have to just call them, I guess.

Going to the actual office is impossible due to my disability.


As for my sister, she had been drinking at the time. Which doesn't excuse what she said, by any means.

I just wonder why people don't use their heads, you know?

Like why on earth would someone WANT to miss out on certain fun things in life, like graduations, family reunions, trips, christenings, birthday parties, etc.

I mean, it's not like the people at SS are following me around like insurance adjusters trying to catch people who might be scamming the insurance system.

Having a disability nobody can see really sucks, and so do people who think they know more than 40 years worth of psychiatrists and psychologists do.

[LiberalFighter]

10. You need to use information you have from experience to open their eyes.

Do they know how long it took before they approved your claim? And the process?

[demosincebirth]

11. Are you permanently disabled? If you are, when you reach 65 you will just slip into Social

Security. That's what happened to my wife. She received the same amount as when she was on SSDI along with the cola every year.

[mysuzuki2]

12. When you reach full retirement age, which is not 65 anymore BTW

your disability would convert to a retirement benefit at the same amount. There are good reasons sometimes to take a reduced retirement at 62 instead of a higher disability. The rules for work and earnings and collecting workmans comp can sometimes make that advantageous. To keep friends and family happy? Maybe not so much. I am not sure about what might happen at full retirement age if you do that. I never dealt with that situation when I worked at SSA and now that I'm retired myself I dom't have access to the manuals. Something sticks in the back of my mind about it though. Note - the people at the SSA 800 number probably won't know the full answer about this since it is an unusual situation. TRY to go to an SSA office and talk to an experienced claims rep or technical expert. Sorry I can't give you an absolutely definitive answer. If itmakes you feel better, everyone at SSA knows that not all disabilities are readily apparent to the eye.